The Liberian civil war

Beginning on Christmas Eve 1989 with an apparently low-key incursion into the country’s northern forest, the Liberian civil war came to be characterised by a scale of brutality, trauma and desperation which served to strongly influence worldwide impressions of the wider African continent. A country which had barely figured as a political or military player, was suddenly the urgent worry of an entire region. Mark Huband’s comprehensive coverage of the early years of the war is unique. Driven by a determination not to let the war in Liberia fall off the global news agenda, his insights into the regional political implications, and accounts of the ground-level horrors experienced by ordinary Liberians as they lived in fear of death squads and faction leaders, are a lasting testimony to the value of frontline journalism.